News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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School patrons will get one final look at the design and color scheme of the new K-12 school complex before it goes out to bid, Grand Coulee Dam School District board members indicated at their Monday night meeting. While the date hasn’t been set for the public look, it will likely be after the holidays, and probably just before the project goes out for bid. Superintendent Dr. Dennis Carlson said the design of the complex hasn’t materially changed; however, the board felt that local school patrons might like to see the color schemes and mat...
A rally of tribal members who have sought by petition the other half of a $193 million settlement with the United States government, will be held at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Colville Tribal Administration building Wednesday, Dec. 19. Yvonne Swan, coordinator/moderator, said that members of the group plan to appear before the Colville Business Council on Thursday. Swan said over 2,700 Tribal members have signed the petition. The Tribes received the one time $193 million payment for the mismanagement of tribal natural resources. The council...
It’s still Thanksgiving time at 432 Columbia in Coulee Dam. The resident, Carol Netzel, sets the table twice a day and feeds anywhere from four to 14 visitors. It’s not an ordinary feast, but appreciated just the same. Netzel feeds deer. Early morning and late afternoon, every day, the feast is on. Countless boxes of apples, and store-bought deer food is involved. Netzel has purchased a number of boxes of apples from Shaw’s Fruit and Produce in Belvedere. “These are apples that they couldn...
Port District 7 has applied to Grant County’s Strategic Infrastructure Program for $7,500 to pay for its feasibility report on a plan to build an RV park at the course. District Chairman Oroville Scharbach said he and others will meet with the county’s committee Dec. 19, to go over details of the overall plan. Port commissioners got a sticker shock when the overall study by USKH engineers last month showed a cost of nearly $1.5 million for the facility. Allowing for overages, the estimate swelled to $1.749 million. Since then, com...
It will cost more now to ride in an ambulance in Grand Coulee, according to a new rate schedule and ordinance passed by Grand Coulee’s city council last Tuesday night. The more notable hikes in fees include: • a $50 increase from $250 to $300 for basic life support, for one client, for a one-way ride; • a $50 increase to $300 for a return pick-up or second transport for the same client, same 24-hour period. Residents get a $60 break for each of those categories. Fire Chief Rick Paris explained that the new charges will bring ambulance billi...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District was awarded a $484,738 energy grant from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Friday. The school district was one of 21 throughout the state that shared in $14.9 million in energy grants. Almira School also benefited from the OSPI grant, receiving $894,000. Grand Coulee Dam District had earlier been awarded an energy grant that would have serviced needs in schools that the district plans to close. That grant was eventually turned down. Friday’s grant was one of three rounds of grants i...
A program will soon be underway to encourage high school dropouts to continue their educations through a new online program approved by the school board at its last meeting, The board authorized the hiring of American Academy, a national group, to seek out students who have dropped out of school for one reason or another and encourage them to get back on track. American Academy will hire mentors for the students to stay with them as they work online on specific subjects that will earn them high school credits and lead to graduation at Lake...
Electric City will appropriate $20,472 for the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2013 tourism promotion program, following a vote of the city council last Tuesday night. Chamber of commerce Manager Peggy Nevsimal had presented a $61,000-plus promotional plan to Electric City, Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam councils. Electric City was the first to respond with a vote to provide one-third the funds from hotel/motel taxes, which must be spent on promotion of tourism. The plan provided for ways to attract visitors from within 100 miles a...
Port District 7 commissioners suffered a bit of sticker shock last Thursday when an RV project they plan for the Banks Lake Golf Course was projected to cost nearly $1.5 million. The report was part of a feasibility study by USKH Engineering and presented by civil engineer Zak Sargent, of that firm. Commissioners had projected that the RV park would provide needed revenue to help with operation expenses. Rates for parking an RV at the park ranged from $20 a night in the off season to $40 during the peak summer season. The port commission had...
Area law enforcement agencies are looking for a Grand Coulee man wanted in connection with an alleged armed robbery of the Blue Moon Smoke Shop in Coulee Dam. A clerk at the shop said that Phillip Cody Ruiz, 23, entered the shop and said he wanted to purchase some cigarettes, but had left his wallet in the car. When he returned, clerk Sandra Waters was on her cellphone, and Ruiz ordered her to get off the phone and give him the money in the cash register. He ordered her not to call the cops or he would be back. Waters said that Ruiz, known to...
There will soon be a quilt shop in Grand Coulee. Owner/operator Marlene Oddie, from College Place, has purchased the former ice cream shop across from the Teepee Drive-in, and will soon begin the process of getting it ready for an opening shortly after the first of the year. Oddie had been working out of her home in College Place, but finds herself in the Grand Coulee area after her husband Duncan, hired on at Grand Coulee Dam as a mechanical engineer. Oddie spent a number of years with Bank of America as a consultant and finally opened her...
A 46-year-old man was arrested and taken to Grant County Jail after allegedly trying to elude police early Monday morning. The vehicle that Ernie Andrew Smith, of 57899 W. Cardinal Road, was driving was allegedly clocked at 50 mph in a 35 mph zone heading east on Alcan Road when Officer Heath Otto gave chase. Smith lost control of the vehicle and it hit concrete posts protecting a Grand Coulee water main and then continued on until it stopped at 901 King Street, Otto’s report said. Otto contacted Smith and had him spread-eagled on the ground w...
A 20-year-old man was cited for possession/consumption of alcohol by a minor and for 17 counts of supplying alcohol to minors, after officers were called on a complaint of noise at a residence on 803 Division Street, Grand Coulee, about 12:30 a.m., Sunday morning. A person living nearby complained to police of excessive noise coming from a party at the home. When officers arrived, they found evidence of drinking both outside and inside the residence. Police met two teenage boys attempting to leave, and they rushed back into the house yelling,...
It’s time to play “name that school.” The school board is tackling the job of naming the district’s new K-12 facility by passing the process off to Superintendent Dr. Dennis Carlson. But it’s all according to Hoyle. The board policy calls for district buildings to be named after persons who have attained national or local prominence in the field of education, arts and sciences, politics, military achievements and statesmanship; after U.S. presidents or Washington national senators or representatives or after the geographic characteristics of th...
The Coulee Area Park & Recreation District’s efforts to obtain tax revenue failed at the polls by about 44 votes. The district’s final vote count gave the measure 57.42 percent favorable votes. It needed a 60-percent yes vote to pass. Voters within the district’s boundaries cast 2,076 votes, of which 1,192 were favorable, 884 unfavorable. County auditors were required to certify the election with the state on Tuesday. The district would have gained 15 cents per $1,000 of property valuation, providing money for the upkeep of North Dam Park...
The Rotary Club is seeking a project from the school district so it can go after a grant to double its fund for the new K-12 school. Rotarians Jim Keene, Roy Hamilton and Bob Valen appeared before the school board Monday night and told directors that the club had an opportunity to get a grant equaling its $15,000 school building fund but needed a project in order to do so. Keene said he was grateful for all the small donations during the club’s school fund projects and it was in a position to leverage its money to twice that amount. R...
Ambulance services for Medicare patients have finally been approved for payment, Fire Chief Rick Paris told Grand Coulee City Council members last week. Paris said that a third-party billing service can go back to Jan. 1, 2009, according to Medicare sources. He stated that normally Medicare doesn’t accept billings that are more than 12 months old. “I don’t know yet how many billings and how much this represents in money,” Paris said. The city has been trying to get the Medicare problem solved, and before the federal agency would accept the bil...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board got a lesson in color combinations as architect Cameron Golightly, from Design West, reviewed the color schemes of the new K-12 school Monday night. He explained that the K-6 wing would be a bit more colorful than the 7-12 wing which will have more “grown up” colors. Golightly reviewed color schemes for flooring, wall coverings and countertops during his presentation. The color schemes reflected earth tones, similar to those being considered for the outside of the building. Board members were qui...
Lake Roosevelt High School is sending its robotics team to two competitions in December. The six-student team is made up of Tim Loch, Jordan Charles, Corbin Wilder, Joshua Wilder, Devan Black and Brady Black and coached by Jeremiah Seekins. The school board gave its approval for the trips Monday night, learning that the cost associated with the travel was being borne by a grant from the 21st Century group. The first trip, this Saturday, Dec. 1, will take the team to Ellensburg for the First...
Port District 7’s plan to put in an RV park at Banks Lake Golf Course has been viewed favorably by both Electric City’s planning commission and city council. The plan, if everything goes forward, is to put in a 48-pad RV park where the driving range is and along the first fairway at the course. Port district officials, who are now running the golf course, went before the planning commission Nov. 6, and to the city council last Tuesday night. In both instances, the port district was encouraged to move forward with its plan. All of the steps wil...
Sewer ratepayers in Coulee Dam and Elmer City won the day last Wednesday night when many of the major parties in the wastewater treatment plant were on hand and agreed to work together. The scene was Coulee Dam’s council meeting with a presentation by Gray & Osborne, the town’s engineering firm, which was reporting on its progress on the design phase of the project. Engineer Jeff Stevens made a short presentation and then stated, “We need direction from the council on where we go from here.” Local resident Greg Wilder had preceded Stevens and l...
Grand Coulee’s Shane Proctor will defend his world championship bull riding title Dec. 6-15, at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. This year’s rodeo will feature 10 nights of the best of the best as bull riders and others compete for some $6 million in prize money. Competitors will face off in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, women’s barrel racing and bull riding. Proctor got off to a slower start this year after breaking his arm in the final night of competition last year....
The Ridge Riders picked up top honors during the 2012 Professional Western Rodeo Association Convention Nov. 10 in Ellensburg. The local group was named top rodeo committee in the state for the Non-Fair Rodeo category for its Colorama Rodeo. The honor was bestowed on the Ridge Riders by Pro-West’s board of directors. On hand in Ellensburg to accept the honor were Vice President Monty Fields and his wife Marsha. The Ridge Riders has been part of the Pro-West organization since the early 1970s a...
Coulee Dam could end up with new, low-energy street lights. Public works director Barry Peacock told the council last Wednesday that representatives from the state’s Transportation Improvement Board were in town and looking at the town’s current street lights. He said that Coulee Dam was one of seven small municipalities in the state being considered for a grant for low-energy street lights. Peacock said there was two level of grants, one for 100 percent of lights and one for 50 percent of lights. “We should know by the end of the year,...
The chamber of commerce made a pitch for hotel/motel tax money at Coulee Dam’s Council meeting last Wednesday night. Manager Peggy Nevsimal walked council members through a comprehensive $61,000 plan on how the chamber was going to use the promotional funds to attract both nearby visitors and those from the west side of the mountains. She pointed out to the council that Electric City was going to take in from lodging establishments some $65,000 a year; Grand Coulee, about $40,000; and Coulee Dam about $30,000. The tax, collected on rooms and c...